News of the weird: Tourists taking photos of their rear ends jailed

Two American men were arrested after taking and posting selfies of their bare bottoms outside a temple in Thailand.

Written by By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication

Two American tourists, Joseph Dasilva, 38, and Travis Dasilva, 36, of San Diego, were arrested in Bangkok on Nov. 28 and detained in an immigration detention center after they posted a "butt-selfie" on Instagram, taken in front of the Buddhist temple Wat Arun, or Temple of the Dawn. The pair's Instagram account, traveling_butts, showcased their hindquarters at tourist sites around the world, but it was deleted shortly after the arrests. District police chief Jaruphat Thongkomol told Reuters that the two also would be fined for a similar photo at a different temple.

Autographing his work

In Birmingham, England, renowned 53-year-old surgeon Simon Bramhall pleaded guilty on Dec. 13 to branding his initials onto human livers using an argon beam during transplant surgeries. A colleague first noticed the initials "S.B." in 2013 on an organ during a follow-up surgery, which sparked an investigation, the Guardian reported. Bramhall resigned in 2014 and acknowledged that marking his patients' livers had been a mistake. But former patient Tracy Scriven of Dyrham, Wiltshire, told the Birmingham Mail that he should be reinstated. "Is it really that bad? I wouldn't have cared if he did it to me. The man saved my life."

Inept Santa moves

Jesse Berube, 32, of Rocklin, Calif., tried using a favorite trick of Old St. Nick - but he got stuck in the chimney of a Citrus Heights business he was trying to rob on Dec. 13 and had to call police for help. ABC News reported that Sacramento firefighters responded and used special equipment to free Berube, who now faces one count of burglary. Citrus Heights police said Berube "does not have the same skills as the real deal."

The check's in the mail

Lorette Taylor of Burlington, Ontario, Canada, responsible for meting out her family's inheritance after her father's death sent a bank draft last February to her brother, Louis Paul Hebert, for $846,648.46 via UPS. Hebert waited at his local UPS store for the check to arrive - but nothing came in.

TODAY'S SPONSOR:

"I came back in the evening. Nothing shows up," he told the CBC.

UPS could trace the package only to its distribution center north of Toronto, so along with an apology for Hebert's inconvenience, UPS refunded the $32 shipping fee. Taylor's bank, TD Canada Trust, initially assured her the check would be canceled, but two days later refused to issue a new draft until Taylor signed an indemnity agreement making her and her heirs liable for life should the original check be cashed. Not only that, the bank then asked her to put up collateral against the new bank draft, but that request was later recalled. Finally, 10 months after the whole ordeal began, the bank released the money, and Hebert, at press time in December, was making the 273-mile drive to pick up the check in person.

Least competent criminals

Israel Perez Rangel, 38, of Santa Ana, Calif., raised suspicions begging for money at a service station to put gas in the 2015 Ferrari 458 Spider he was driving on Nov. 1. The $300,000 car was in rough shape, according to the Los Angeles Times, with cracked fins, emblems torn from the body and vomit caked on the side. When Santa Ana police arrived, Rangel ran away, but he was caught nearby hiding in bushes. Car owner Susan Friedman of Laguna Beach had left the Ferrari at a Costa Mesa service center in October, where it was stolen, and surveillance video confirmed it was Rangel who nicked the hot rod. Luckily for Friedman, her insurance company cut her a check and she replaced the Ferrari with a 2018 Lamborghini Huracan.

Check out more News of the Weird at www.WeirdUniverse.net. Submit your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com and put Weird News in the subject line.